Homesick
by madam-stardust
Summary: Pac-Man's thrilled to be in Smash, but being so far away from his family's left him homesick. Someone else in Smash knows all about what it's like to be homesick, too.


_At a Smashers' picnic, on the rolling green hills of the Mushroom Kingdom... _

"So, I hear you're a family man," Bowser rumbles. He picks up a cucumber sandwich between two of his claws and pops it into his mouth. "That true?"

"It is!" Pac laughs. "But I don't have nearly as many children as you do. What's it up to now, seven? Eight?"

"No, just the one," Bowser laughs. "The Koopalings, they're my hired hands. A gang, if you can believe it."

Pac gives them a sidelong glance. The Koopalings are playing on the hill, playing keepaway with poor Toad and his mushroom cap. The Princess and Mario have gone over to berate them, leaving Bowser and Pac alone under a tree to talk.

"Well," Pac says mildly, "I can see it."

"How many you got?" Bowser grunts. He pours them both a little more tea, and, my, he is _very _delicate for such a large creature. "I'm curious."

"Two. Junior and Baby. Well, Baby's not a baby anymore," Pac explains. "She likes the nickname, though..."

"Hah! Another Junior!" Bowser snorts. "Guess we're narcissists, eh?"

Pac shifts in his spot, a little uncomfortably. "Gee, well, I didn't think of it that way."

Bowser tilts back a little and bellows out a deep belly laugh. The Koopalings stop in their tracks, glance among each other, and echo it in their own little snickers. "That wasn't a joke!" says the king, annoyed. They laugh even harder, and he rolls his eyes and turns back to Pac-Man. "You work with 'em?"

"Oh, no," Pac says politely. "Baby's in school right now, and so's Junior...and he's off filming a TV show, as well." He sighs heavily. "I miss them a lot, to tell you the truth."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Pac says, his eyes drooping a little. "Yeah."

"Mmm." Bowser lets out another rumble, a more thoughtful one this time-and then there's a piercing cackle from the kids. "One second," he growls, pushing himself up to his feet. "Lemme take care of these clowns."

He turns and stomps off. Immediately there's a strong feeling of _something_ from behind the tree, something Pac can't quite place. He turns back and forth, glancing around-and sees someone watching him, sticking their head out from behind the trunk, just a little bit.

"Well, hey there," Pac says cheerfully. He scooches over a little bit, smoothing down the blanket. "Would you like to have a seat?"

The kid hesitates, blinks the one eye that Pac can see, and then he cautiously shuffles out from behind the tree and sits down. That feeling of _something _is stronger now. It's strong and sad.

"Would you like something to eat?" Pac offers. "It...might help."

The boy nods. He reaches for the sandwiches-his hand hovers over the cucumber, first, and then zooms towards the ham and cheese. He eats it politely.

"You look really hungry," Pac remarks. "You can have more, if you want."

He gobbles it down. And then another. And one of the cucumber ones as well.

_Thank you. _

Pac blinks. "You're welcome," he says out loud. "Are you okay?"

"Mmmn." The kid sniffles a little. "Sorry..."

_I'm just homesick. _

"I understand," Pac replies. "I'm homesick, too." He tilts his head a little. "Do you miss your folks?"

The boy's face scrunches up like he's trying not to cry, and he nods. "Mm...mm-hmm."

_I miss them a lot. I miss my friends. I miss my sister. I miss my mom. I miss my dad. I miss my dad. I miss my dad. I miss my dad. I miss my_

Pac blinks again, leaning back.

"S-sorry," sniffles the boy again. "Sorry."

"It's okay, kiddo." Pac pats him on the back gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The boy looks up at him. "I don't know," he whispers. "Is that okay with you?"

_I don't talk like other people talk. _

"Sure," Pac says, steeling himself. "Sure, it's okay with me."

_Okay. _

_I don't know what my dad looks like but I know what he sounds like because he's nothing but a voice on the phone but I know he loves me so much because I can hear that he's aching 'cause he can't come home. When he does come home it's so late that I'm already fast asleep and when I'm dreaming I can feel him kiss me on the forehead and it hurts so much because I love him and I love him and I love him_

Maybe somewhere the Koopalings are laughing, but there's nothing Pac can see or hear right now except for this child's feelings mixing with his own. Everything else is far away and foggy.

_And I know you love your family too because I can read your heart and I'm really really sorry about that but I can't help it because_

_you remind me of him. _

When he wakes up, the both of them are crying. The others are still far away on the hill.

"I'm sorry," the kid bawls. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, kiddo," Pac whispers, sniffling. He reaches out a hand and pulls him close, rubbing his shoulder. "It's okay."

The boy reaches his arms around him, as far as he can, which isn't very far-but he holds Pac-Man tight. Slowly that strong anxiety starts to subside, and it leaves them with a clean, calm feeling that starts to mellow into happiness.

Eventually, the boy pulls away, smiling. "Nice to meet you," he says softly. "I'm Ness."

Pac-Man laughs a little bit. "I thought it might be you. It's nice to meet you too," he says, holding out his other hand. Ness shakes it politely. "I'm Pac-Man."

Ness grins. "You're really nice," he says. "And your family sounds really nice, too."

Pac smiles down at him. "Thank you, Ness. And so does yours."


End file.
